The airline hopes to announce international routes this year.
A Breeze Airways Airbus A220 aircraft (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
The Department of Transportation has granted Breeze’s request for exemption authority to provide scheduled foreign air transportation to countries with which the U.S. maintains open-skies agreements. The decision, filed last week, allows the carrier to expand operations internationally without waiting for final certificate approval.
The exemption, which remains effective through June 6, 2027, enables Breeze to operate flights between the United States and all nations that have established open-skies relationships with the U.S., including signatories to the Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation (MALIAT).
“We have decided to grant Breeze the requested exemption authority to serve all open-skies partners,” stated Benjamin J. Taylor, director of the office of international aviation, in the agency’s notice.
The DOT also granted Breeze’s request for blanket authority, meaning the carrier will automatically gain exemption authority to serve any new country that enters into an open-skies agreement with the United States without requiring additional approvals.
“We find that the award of such authority, on a prospective basis, with the enhanced administrative convenience it would accord to the carrier, is consistent with the public interest,” the notice declared.
The carrier – which launched scheduled service in 2021 – has been working to attain flag carrier status to operate international routes. CEO David Neeleman told AirlineGeeks in a December interview that a wide array of routes are on Breeze’s radar.
He’s hinted at flights to the Caribbean and even trans-Atlantic service to “Ireland or the British Isles, secondary cities, seasonal.”
A Breeze spokesperson told AirlineGeeks on Monday that the airline plans to announce international service later this year. The carrier is still working through its flag carrier and Extended Twin-Engine Operations (ETOPS) approvals, but this DOT nod is a “milestone,” the spokesperson added.
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